Help me?
by em.cxcvii
Summary: Veronica helps Walter get Paige, but it's not Walter's choice to do so. Read to see what happens! Post 3x09
1. Realisation

**Title: Help me?**

 **Chapter: 1) Realisation**

 **Summary:** Veronica helps Walter get Paige, but it's not Walter's choice to do so.

 **Characters:** Walter, Veronica, Paige

 **Setting:** Present-day, post 3x09

 **DISCLAIMER: All rights go to CBS and relevant parties, as I do not own Scorpion.**

 **Author's Note:** After watching 3x09, I couldn't help but write about how things would turn out if Veronica 'helps' Walter. As much as I would love Waige to get together ASAP, I have a feeling that the writers would throw a curveball at us. So this is my curveball to you.

* * *

 _"Walter, despite my issues with Paige, I want what is best for my daughter. And from what I can tell, that's you. So, I'm going to help you get her back."_

Walter stared blankly at Paige's desk, his mind replaying the words Veronica Dineen said to him yesterday evening.

It was six in the morning. Walter could not sleep, not after what he heard yesterday night. He didn't say anything after she said that though, as Paige called out to them to hurry up and bring the cutlery for the dinner. The topic of how she was going to help him never resurfaced after that. But it still bothered him. There was just _something_ to Veronica's words that bugged him.

For instance, the things that bothered him included how Veronica was able to know that he and Paige had feelings for each other, or how she knew that Tim would not be the correct guy for her. She was only with them for a day - well, technically, less than that. Was it that obvious? She had only asked him once, about how Paige was important to the team. He recalled his answer.

 _"She uh, she brings intangibles!"_

Surely that statement alone was could not have been sufficient to conclude that the friendship between him and Paige was special, or could it?

With a pen spinning in his left hand, he recalled how Veronica did not directly ask a question about his relationship status with Paige. Truth is, he just kind of spilled. He believed that she figured it out. As a result of Veronica's prodding, and after weeks of keeping the fact that Paige and Tim's relationship did not bother him, she pushed all of his correct buttons, allowing the most important information to slip.

He wanted to be with her.

Veronica was correct, Paige was more than a 'top-notch' team member to him.

 **-SCORPION-**

"I had a feeling you would be down here." A female voice said. No, it wasn't Paige's. The voice was much lower, and not as gentle as what he remembered, although they had similarities. He looked up, jumped slightly, pushing his chair backwards, almost hitting the shelf behind him.

Veronica. What was she doing here?

Walter kept silent, although his mind was churning all sorts of possible reasons as to why she would be here, in his garage, at this hour.

When she sensed that he was not going to speak, she continued, pulling up a chair to sit right in front of him. "I'm here, to discuss about my daughter." Walter kept his eyes glued to his computer screen, listening intently.

"What do you want?" He finally said, impatient.

"What do _you_ want, Walter? I think, deep down, you've already know the answer. I can help you. And you don't even need to do a thing."

"Help me?" He laughed to himself. It wasn't funny. He was just amused at the fact that of all people that he had interacted with, she would be willing to help him. All his friends, even his mentor, gave him advice, but not the one he wanted to hear. And yet now, he is given advice to win Paige back, from her mother, a con woman.

That's right. She's a con woman.

Walter's face immediately darkened. _She'll hurt her. I can't let that happen._ He sat up.

"No."

"No to what, Walter? You said it yourself, you want to be with her." Veronica said, smirking to herself. Her plan was working, to use his words against him.

"No, I don't need your help." Walter clarified, looking at Veronica, studying her face. She had this mysterious look. _If only Toby was here, he would tell me what she's thinking..._

"I actually, never asked if you wanted it." Her voice brought him out of his thoughts. What did she say again?

Her words then dawned upon him. "What?" Walter gasped, hands clenching the edge of his desk.

"The plan is underway. You'd thank me later."

Just then, the garage door swung open and Ralph ran in. "Walter, Grandma!" He shouted, running up towards the both of them, hugging Veronica and giving Walter a fist bump. Paige followed closely behind him, only to see _her_.

"What -" She began, only to be cut off by her mother's voice.

"Don't worry, I was just leaving." She walked away from her seat, patting her grandson on his shoulder and looked at Walter.

"I look forward to working with you, Mr O'Brien."

With that, she quickly left the garage, leaving behind a confused Paige and a speechless Walter.

 **-To be continued...-**

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope you enjoyed! I had so much fun channeling "evil Veronica Dineen" haha. According to my plan, this should be a five part story. I hope to get all of it out before the next episode.  
P.S. Props to Scorpion writers for naming a con woman 'Veronica', as the name means honest image. Oh the irony.


	2. Request

**Title: Help me?**

 **Chapter: 2) Request**

 **Summary:** Veronica helps Walter get Paige, but it's not Walter's choice to do so.

 **Characters:** Walter, Veronica, Paige

 **Setting:** Present-day, post 3x09

 **DISCLAIMER: All rights go to CBS and relevant parties, as I do not own Scorpion.**

 **Author's Note:** Here's chapter 2!

* * *

"Walter, what was that?!" Paige raised his voice at him, immediately after Ralph walked away to play with Proton Arnold. There has been enough drama and tension in Scorpion HQ for the past few weeks, she didn't need her son hearing all of this, especially so when he and Veronica got along so well.

Walter did not know how to respond. He himself wasn't even sure what Veronica was up to, or what she could have meant by that statement.

 _"I look forward to working with you, Mr O'Brien."_

It could mean anything, or nothing.

"Walter!" Paige shouted his name, this time much louder than before, bringing him right out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," he said, stepping back as Paige took a step towards him.

"What was she doing here?" Paige asked, her voice calming down, speaking softly now.

"I..." Truth is, he had no idea himself. "I don't know."

Paige sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. _She's angry,_ Walter thought. _She's angry at me._

"Walter.." "Paige.." They both began speaking at the same time. Walter paused and gestured for her to speak first.

She took a deep breath, and started speaking. "Walter, I'm not angry at you, okay? I'm just...frustrated. First, my mom barges into my life and caused all the trouble yesterday, and the next second she wants to come back into my life, which she freely abandoned years ago. Then, I come into the garage this morning only to find her here again, talking to you about god-knows-what." She started pacing, before continuing again. "It's just confusing me, about her intentions and it's also making me question my decision of bringing her into Ralph's life when I am not ready to have her in mine." She paused, took a breath and looked at Walter. She couldn't read his expression, but she knew he was listening.

"I know I'm rambling and I'll just end it by saying..." She took another pause to choose her words carefully. She knew how Walter is with words, and she didn't want to hurt him. "Just be careful, Walter. Whatever you and her are working on, I don't want to know. My only request is that she butts out of my personal life and stay clear of hurting Ralph. Can make sure she does that?" She then added quietly, "For me."

Walter gulped. Butting out of her personal life would be hard to do, but he really did not want to upset her again. She had had her heart broken so many times, by her mom, by Drew, by himself...it would be unfair to hurt her again. _For her. Anything for her._ His mind echoed what she said earlier. He had to. He had no choice.

"Okay." He finally said. "I'll try."

"Thank you, Walter." She said to him, almost tempted to walk back to her desk when she remembered something. "Do you, have anything you want to tell me?"

His mind raced with possible answers to her question. I _want to tell you I love you. And that your mom is doing something that I think will hurt you. I don't want that._ or, _Seeing you with Tim hurts me. I'm suffering everyday._ But the only answer that left his lips was "No."

She turned around and sat back down at her desk, completing her paperwork before the rest of the team arrived.

 **-SCORPION-**

Veronica sat down at her home office, satisfied that her plan has worked out just the way she wanted. She knew that because of what she said to him yesterday night, that he would not sleep well. She had been studying how scorpion worked for a while now, and it was just by luck that he wasn't in his loft this morning. All she did was planted seeds, little seeds that would lead to a person doing what she wants them to do, without her lifting her finger. She smiled at herself. She was good at what she was doing, she thought.

She opened her drawer, shuffling through newspaper cuttings of Team Scorpion's works, online articles of how they saved they day, and most importantly, pictures and articles about her daughter. But she wasn't looking for her today. She was searching for something far more vital to her plan.

"What was his name again?" She mumbled to herself while flipping through cut outs, after cut outs.

Then she found it.

She pulled out a local newspaper article, dated March 2015. The article itself was short and the column it was in was small, but the headline wrote exactly what she wanted, "Homeland Trainee Timothy Armstrong joins Team Scorpion."

She smirked. Timothy Armstrong. Her daughter's boyfriend. But it won't be for long.

She picked up the handset telephone on her desk, turning the dials to call someone.

"Hey, I need you to do me a favour. Don't worry, I'll pay you well." She spoke into the transmitter. "Yes. " She said shortly after, nodding after hearing what the person on the other end was saying.

"His name's Timothy Armstrong. Wait, you want me to spell it?" She couldn't read the small fine print of the newspaper clearly. Argh, and her reading glasses were on the far side of the room.

"Timothy. You know how to spell Timothy right? Yes. Okay, Armstrong." She squinted and spoke into the handset. "A-R-M-S-T-O-N-G. Armstrong."

"Alright, I need your help to get him back to his Navy SEAL unit."

 **-To be continued...-**

* * *

 **A/N:** Heh heh...What is Veronica doing? Again, thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts on where you think this is going, so please leave a review :)


	3. Not Right

**Title: Help me?**

 **Chapter: 3) Not Right**

 **Summary:** Veronica helps Walter get Paige, but it's not Walter's choice to do so.

 **Characters:** Walter, Veronica, Paige

 **Setting:** Present-day, post 3x09

 **DISCLAIMER: All rights go to CBS and relevant parties, as I do not own Scorpion.**

 **Author's Note:** This is part 3 out of 5. Enjoy!

* * *

"Guys! We got a case!" Cabe said as he walked into the garage, his hand holding a stack of file folders.

On hearing Cabe's call, Walter and the rest of the team gathered around the computer screens in the centre of the garage, except for Paige. She was still standing at her desk, typing rapidly on her smartphone. _This is unusual,_ Walter thought.

"Hey, Paige!" Walter called out, gesturing for her to come over to join the rest of the team. She looked up, noticing that she was the only person not gathered with the others.

"Sorry," Paige replied. "It's just...Has anyone of you guys seen Tim?"

"Tim?" Cabe repeated, glancing around. She was right, the Homeland Trainee was nowhere to be seen.

"He's usually here on time. And I tried calling his cell, but he is not picking up." She picked up her phone again, quickly refreshing her lockscreen for any new messages or missed calls.

Nothing.

"Maybe he's caught in traffic?" Sly suggested, in attempts to ease the worried look on Paige's face. "Yea." Happy agreed. Then Toby opened his mouth to say something. "You know, maybe he's back in Djibouti to get his butt kicked." He laughed, but no one else joined in. "Remember that joke? I always -" Before he could finish his statement, Happy elbowed him right in his side.

"Ow, my appendix!"

Paige shook her head and sighed. Her boyfriend was MIA and all that Team Scorpion was able to provide was only vague suggestions or bad jokes.

"Guys, while I appreciate all of your suggestions, this is starting to get serious." Paige began, making sure she was making eye contact with everyone in the room to get their attention. "Tim is never late for anything. Something's not right."

"Shouldn't you know where he is all the time? He is your boyfriend, after all." Walter mumbled softly, just for himself to hear.

Or so he thought.

"Walter!" Paige raised her voice at him. He jumped. "What did you just say?"

"N-nothing!" He said quickly, raising his hands in defence. Oh snap, he was in big trouble.

"Excuse me. Walter, a word." Paige said to him, excusing herself from the group of geniuses. Walter had no choice but to follow her to the kitchen at the back of the garage.

When Paige was certain that she was out of earshot from the rest of the team, she gave Walter a stern look and warned him.

"Don't you say anything like that again."

"I'm sorry." Walter said, looking right at Paige, although, he wasn't sure why he had to apologise. He was just stating facts. Unfortunately, she didn't seem like she accepted his apology, as she quickly walked back to join the team for the briefing. Walter saw from the corner of his peripheral vision that Cabe was patting her on the shoulder, and said something along the lines of "Don't worry, kid. I'm sure we will figure this out."

For the rest of the day, Walter and Paige did not have conversations lasting for more than thirty seconds.

 **-SCORPION-**

After Team Scorpion saved the world from yet another nuclear apocalypse, Toby and Happy went to Kovelsky's for a celebratory dinner. Cabe drove Sylvester back to his apartment, before making a stop at Homeland to check if Tim was there. He had been missing the whole day during the mission, but no one other than Paige seemed to be bothered by his absence. Walter and Paige headed back to the garage together, both of them suffering through the most awkward and silent car ride. Paige had to pick up Ralph from his sitter and Walter, well, he was going home.

Walter actually had been doing his own research and attempted to track the whereabouts of the missing interloper, unknown to the team's or Paige's notice. He found something that might explain his sudden disappearance, although he doubt that Paige knew nothing of it. The piece of document he found was too important not to be raised in question during the course of their relationship. If she didn't know anything, Tim would be a jerk, and one hell of a bad boyfriend. He decided it would be best to talk to her about it when they arrived at the garage, instead of having to explain and drive at the same time.

On entering the garage, Paige saw that her son was sleeping peacefully on the couch next to Proton Arnold. She paid the sitter and thanked her, deciding that it would be better if she stayed in the garage for a while to clear some paperwork before she leaves. Not only does she not want to awake her son, the amount of things that Scorpion destroyed while trying to save the world was uncountable, contributing to a mountain of paperwork.

She sat at her desk and started sorting the papers on her desk. She felt him just standing there, watching her. _Creepy,_ she thought to herself.

Walter continued watching her shuffle her papers while he was trying to piece together words in his head to get what he wanted to say across.

"Uh, I'd like to apologise for my comment about you and Tim earlier." He spoke, looking down, avoiding eye contact with her.

Paige looked up. "Okay." She said, setting her papers down on her desk, and swivelled her chair to face him, indicating that she was all ears.

"It was um inappropriate." Walter continued, biting his lip. "So I actually did some research and tracking, and I found this." He took a piece of paper out from his pocket, revealing a printout of a document. It looked a lot like an application form.

She took the document from his hands, and read it.

"You see, right here, it indicates that his return date back to the Navy SEALs is 28th November 2016." Walter explained, pointing at the dates indicated in the corner of the page.

"That's...not possible." Paige said in disbelief. _Something's not right._ She fished her phone out of her purse, shuffling through her camera roll to find a picture. _No, that's not possible._

"What?" Walter said, confused.

"This." She replied, showing him a picture. It was the exact same document, same Navy SEAL logo...but wait.

"April 2017?" Walter said out loud. What was going on here?

"Tim forwarded this to me when I asked him when he was going back to his unit. It was directly from his commander. It can't be wrong." Paige explained, while Walter was examining the image.

"Then how did the dates change? The documents are identical. Are you sure that is correct?"

"Yes. Where did you get yours anyway?" She took the document from Walter's hands again and starting examining it very closely. _There has to be something here that tells me what's going on._

"I hacked into their database."

"What?" Paige exclaimed. She then thought through it, there was only a few ways Walter could have helped her. So, of course he would hack something. "Nevermind."

"Wait, what is this?" She was staring at his name. TIMOTHY ARMSTONG.

Walter scooted closer to her, peering over her shoulder and bringing his attention to where her finger was pointing at.

"It's missing an R." He concluded. The difference was so minor, from afar, no one would have saw it.

"And there's only one person I know who has poor eyesight and is capable of doing this." Paige muttered. She then took a good look at Walter. His face contorted, as if he was trying to figure this all out.

He had no clue what was going on.

Paige finally spoke, sighing loudly. "Walter, what did you and my mom do now?"

Before he could even process what happened, she left quickly, leaving Ralph and him behind.

 **-To be continued...-**

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! Where do you think Paige is going? Do you think Walter will find out what's going on? Let me know :)


	4. Revealed

**Title: Help me?**

 **Chapter: 4) Revealed**

 **Summary:** Veronica helps Walter get Paige, but its not Walter's choice to do so.

 **Characters:** Walter, Veronica, Paige

 **Setting:** Present-day, post 3x09

 **DISCLAIMER: All rights to go CBS and relevant parties, as I do not own Scorpion.**

 **Author's Note:** I hope you all will like this chapter! Things are starting to break lose and go crazy.  
PS, be sure to check if you had read the previous instalment. Enjoy :)

* * *

Paige floored the gas pedal even harder than she ever had done before.

The last time she had done so, was over two years ago, when she was speeding down LA streets to get to LAX with Walter. This time, however, it was because she desperately needed to get this situation settled as quickly as possible. She had so many questions for her mother. What was she doing back in the garage? How did she make Tim disappear? Why would she want to take Tim away from her? She needed them to be answered, and she was determined to do so, whatever means necessary.

Finally, after what seemed like a never ending car ride, she parked her car at the foot of Veronica's apartment. She took a deep breath. She hasn't been here since...she was eleven? She couldn't even remember.

She didn't want to anyway.

She quickly gathered herself together, took her purse and the piece of paper Walter showed her, and stomped right up to her mother's door.

 **-SCORPION-**

"Paige! What are you doing here?" Veronica said as she opened her apartment door, surprised to find her daughter at this time of the night.

"We need to talk." was all Paige said as she forced her way past Veronica, walking directly into her home office.

As far as Paige can remember, nothing about the apartment has changed. Her mother's desk still floats in the centre of the room, even the red handset is still on the desk. It was 2016, who would still use a handset?

Veronica followed her daughter into the office, finally overtaking her and sat down in her desk chair.

"So, are you going to tell me what you are here for?" Veronica began, glancing to her right at her wall clock. "At 9pm at night?"

"Why don't you tell me!" She slammed the printout document on her mother's table. Oh, that felt good. "Care to explain?"

Veronica's face went white. She thought her plan would be foolproof. She had to quickly think of a comeback.

"I don't recognise this."

"Bullpoop." Paige retorted. "Is this what you and Walter were working on?"

"Okay, okay. I'll explain." She finally caved and gave in.

"I'm listening." Paige replied, pacing around the small empty space available between the desk and the door.

"I paid one of my prison buddies to change Tim's return date to the SEALs."

"What?" Paige stopped pacing and shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't wrap her brain around what her mother was saying.

She sank into the chair in front of the desk, bringing her hands up to massage her temples.

All of this was giving her a headache.

 **-SCORPION-**

Meanwhile, Walter was confused. He had never seen Paige run out of the garage so fast. He sat back on his desk chair, staring on his computer screen. It was still displaying Tim's Navy SEAL form. He missed something, he thought. _Paige saw something I didn't._

In search of finding a lead that would bring him to whoever the culprit was, he decided to check if other people had accessed this document before him. After a few keystrokes, it revealed an IP address, leading him to the name Adam Hussein, who accessed the very same document...just a day before Tim went missing.

He looked up Adam's background information and found out that he had been imprisoned for twelve years. He stared at his imprisonment date. Why did it look so familiar?

Brushing that information aside, he decided to check his bank statement, revealing yet another shocking discovery. Adam had a bank transfer of $50,000 from...he quickly traced the bank account number and another name popped up on his screen.

Veronica Franklin.

It was another moment before Walter finally realised where Paige went. He hastily grabbed a pen and wrote a quick note for Ralph and set it on the coffee table, before grabbing his car keys and headed out of the garage.

This is not going to end well.

 **-SCORPION-**

"Wait, so let me get this straight." Paige said to her mom after she heard her explain how Tim's return date changed. "You, paid a huge sum of money, to this Adam guy and he changed Tim's return date to the SEALs. After which, his commander called him and sent him back to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Am I missing something here?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"But why?" Paige groaned. "He's my boyfriend. Do you even know what you're doing?"

"I was trying to help you, Paige." Veronica replied.

"Help me? You're insane." Paige was losing her patience. She couldn't understand her mother's logic. "How is taking my boyfriend away from me, helping me?"

"I was trying to give you what's best for you."

"And you, someone who wasn't even there for me half my life, gets to decide what's best for me?" Paige raised her voice.

"Paige-" Veronica began, only to be cut of by the frustrated voice of her daughter.

"Stop," Paige help her hand up to her mother. "Do you know what's going on here? Because I know. YOU'RE DESTROYING MY LIFE MOM." She then muttered, "Thanks a lot."

"Paige, I know you're upset. But trust me, you will get to see the good in all of this." Veronica reasoned, hoping that her daughter will open her eyes and see the light. "Walter would have wanted the same outcome."

"Walter?" Paige, for the second time that night, could not belief what was spewing out of her mother's mouth. "Don't you bring him into this mess, Mom."

"Didn't you see the way he was with Tim? Did you not see the pain on his face? What were you thinking?"

"What are _you_ talking about?" Paige was confused. "You were only with us for less than a day. You barely saw him and Tim. How could you know-" Her eyes caught something on the desk. She picked it up. It was a CD, labeled, CCTV Footage on Elia's Rocket.

"How did you get this?" Paige lifted up the disc and pointed at it. She didn't even know the CCTV footage of Walter existed. Walter himself, to her knowledge, had no recollection of what even happened on the rocket.

"I did some research while I was doing time." Veronica replied. "Is it a crime for a mother to find out about her daughter and what she does?"

"Quit lying mom. The truth! You hate astronomy, and you didn't have internet access in jail."

Oh, snap. Her daughter figured it out. She sighed. She got to explain herself for the second time that night.

"Okay. I paid Adam to-"

"Him again? God, Mom. What were you doing?" Paige exclaimed.

She was tired of all of this. Then, it dawned upon her.

"You didn't show that to Tim, did you?" She asked, hoping to hear the answer that she wanted, but her mother's face said otherwise. She just wanted this horrible nightmare to end. She brought her hands to her face, pulling the skin down. "Walter doesn't even know about this." She added softly.

"Listen, Paige-"

"NO!" She's had enough. "First, you use people to steal money, and now you give dirty money to others to help you get whatever information you want. That conversation was private. Do you understand what that means? It means that NO ONE should see it or hear it." She took a deep breath, before continuing. "I should go. Do me a favour...get out of my life, please."

With that, Paige stood up and left the office.

"Wait! Paige, just...one question." Veronica called out. With her back to her mom, she stopped in her tracks. She didn't want to face her again. "How did you even find out I did it?"

Paige laughed to herself.

"You spelt Armstrong wrong." She said, walking away and out of the door.

Veronica was left speechless as she picked up her reading glasses and looked down at the document her daughter gave her.

 **-SCORPION-**

Walter pulled up at Veronica's apartment, only to see Paige walking quickly to her car. Her stance was everything but approachable, however, he still got out of his car and stood right in front of her.

"Walter, please. Get out of my way." She said to him, her voice clipped. She didn't need him to hear all the emotion she was experiencing.

"Wait. I figured it out."

"It's much more complicated than you think, Walter." Paige said, and when her sentence was completed, she slipped into her car and drove away, hoping that her problems will disappear too.

Walter stood in the car park, not only confused, but frustrated. This thing was never going to get sorted, was it?

Someone then patted him on the shoulder. He turned, only to see her again.

"Veronica, no." He tried to turn and walk away.

"Wait. I'm sorry. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, okay?" When he didn't try to leave and stayed silent, she continued. "I owe you an explanation - which I will give, but I wanted you to have this."

She passed him the CD. He read the label and his face turned to one of shock. "Is this...?"

"Yes. It will hold some answers." Veronica said, inviting him to sit right on the curb next to her. "I'm sorry about this big mess."

Walter sat at the curb through the rest of the night, listening to Veronica and what she had done.

No wonder Paige was so upset.

 **-To be continued...-**

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! One more part left! This story actually took a major turn from my original idea. It wasn't my plan to have the spelling mistake or bring the 3x03 footage in, but I just remember how Scott's dressing room was spelt wrongly and thought about how epic it would be if Veronica found the footage and showed it to Tim to chase him away. I mean, in that scene, Walter revealed how he really felt about Paige, so it would be obvious enough for her to draw her conclusions to help him. Anyway, I'm rambling. Please leave a review if you liked it :)


	5. Reconciled

**Title: Help me?**

 **Chapter: 5) Reconciled**

 **Summary:** Veronica helps Walter get Paige, but its not Walter's choice to do so.

 **Characters** : Walter, Veronica, Paige

 **Setting:** Present-day, post 3x09

 **DISCLAIMER: All rights go to CBS and relevant parties, as I do not own Scorpion.**

 **Author's Note:** Welcome to the final instalment! Sorry about the delay, internet was down :(

* * *

 _Hi, this is Timothy Armstrong. I am currently unavailable but please leave a message right after the beep and I will get to you as soon as possible._

Paige sighed. She had been sitting at Zuma beach to clear her head for the past few hours, attempting to call Tim to give him an apology. However, he was just not picking up. _I suppose I can't blame him._ After what her mother did to him, by changing his return date to the SEALs and showing him the footage of her and Walter confessing their love to each other, it was understandable for him not to pick up or return her call. Regardless, Paige could not shake off the feeling of guilt if she did not do something. So, for the fifth time of her calling him, she decided to leave a message.

 _BEEP._

"Tim, it's me, Paige. I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from but...I owe you an apology." Her voice broke, filling with emotion. "I'm so sorry, Tim." She then paused and collected her thoughts, regaining her composure. "What mother did to you, it was unfair. She shouldn't have altered your return date, she shouldn't have made you watch...I know that part of this is also my responsibility. I should have told you what I told Walter in the capsule when you asked. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "Just...call me, okay? I can fix this."

She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she stared out to the dark horizon.

Tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.

She just wanted this mess to stop.

 **-SCORPION-**

Walter climbed into his dark blue Chevrolet and grabbed his laptop from the passenger seat. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Why was he even so nervous? It's just a video of him hallucinating. After all, he's had bits and pieces of his memory come back to him over the last few weeks, and if anything, the video recording would be exactly the same as what he remembers, right?

 _"It will hold some answers."_ To what? He was curious. He thought he already had all his answers.

The inserted disc was making a muffled buzzing sound in the disc reader. After a few seconds, he saw himself pop onto the screen, depicting him moving his arms around weirdly.

Then, he could hear Toby's, Sylvester's and Elia's voice in the background, talking about his low oxygen levels.

The video showed him bringing his hand up to his mouth, kissing it fervently.

 _"If Walter knew about this, he'd choose to remain in space."_

What? He couldn't believe the team saw him making out with his hand. Wait...does Paige know about this?

A few moment's later, Toby shouted something along the lines of "She can!" and Paige's voice filled the intercom. _She didn't see anything. She wasn't there yet,_ Walter concluded. The recording was a little muffled though, possibly because the team was far from the mike.

 _"I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes." Walter in the video said._

 _"Can I open them now?"_

Wait. Did he just hear that? Real Paige was talking to him?

This was different. It was true that his memories of space had resurfaced, first, the baked Alaska, then the part where he was confessing to Paige and how she said it back. Finally, the first part of the video where he 'found' Paige and danced with her. All this while, he thought that the whole thing was just in his head. He had no clue that Paige was really talking to him.

Just to make sure he was hearing what he thought he was hearing, he fast forwarded the video to the part where he was confessing to her.

 _"...it hurts, because I love you."_

 _"I love you too, Walter. And we could be together forever..."_

He closed his laptop shut, quickly stepping on the gas pedal. He had to find her.

And he knew just the place where she would be.

 **-SCORPION-**

Walter pulled up to Zuma beach and spotted her sitting on the soft sand, staring out to the horizon. He knew she would be here. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. He walked slowly and cautiously towards her, approaching her from the back. He didn't want to startle her. He stopped a few inches shy of her, and then sat next to her on her left.

She knew he was seated next to her, but she didn't dare to turn to look. It was partly because of her tear stained face, she did not want him to see her like that. It was also because she didn't dare to see his expression. Was he angry at her? What does he know? Did he find out about the capsule yet? She didn't want to know. She was scared that she didn't get the answer she wanted.

Then again, she did not know what she wanted.

The both of them just sat in silence, watching the beautiful orange sunrise away on the horizon.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Walter began speaking.

"I'm sorry."

Paige turned to him, revealing her swollen cheeks and red eyes. "For what?" She tried to read his face, but he was looking out to the sea.

"I should have stopped her. I didn't even know she was capable of doing this."

"Walter," Paige said. He still was not looking at her. "Walter, look at me, please."

He complied and turned. Oh my, her face. He clenched his fists. He couldn't believe himself that he did not do anything to prevent this. She was hurt, broken, because of him?

"Hey Walter," Paige lightly touched his forearm, drawing his attention right to her. "It's not your fault."

"But I promised you." His fists remained clenched. "I broke it."

"Walter," Paige rubbed his forearm gently and he relaxed, exhaling slowly. "You couldn't have known. My mother...she's a master manipulator. I can't blame you."

"So you forgive me?" Walter asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yes, I'll forgive you." Paige replied, giving him a soft smile.

There was this brief moment of silence before Walter said her name softly.

"I wanted to ask you about something." He began, unsure of where to start.

"Okay, what is it?"

"It's about space."

Paige couldn't believe her ears again. _Why now? This is not the right time, Walter._ She took a slow deep breath, before replying.

"So you know." It came out more like a statement than a question.

"Your mother showed it to me." Walter attempted to read her face, but he was drawing up blanks.

"Of course she would." Paige muttered under her breath. _Typical of her to proclaim to the whole world about anything and everything,_ Paige thought.

"Actually, I remembered it. Before she even showed me."

"Oh. I thought you didn't." She looked away. _Please don't ask me. Please don't, Walter._ She already knew where this was going.

"It's just...Did you mean it?" Walter asked. He was vague, but the expression on her face after his statement was completed told him that she knew very well what she was referring to.

"No." She replied quickly. His face fell. "I mean-" _Get your thoughts together, Paige!_ "I don't know if I meant it then."

He was confused.

"What I'm trying to say is, I was under pressure to bring you back home and when you said it then, I was caught off guard because I didn't know you were capable of expressing it. So I hesitated, before replying. It was just to get you home." Paige clarified, but...

Walter turned his face to look out to sea again. He rose from where he was sitting. He couldn't bear hearing this. His heart hurt enough.

"Wait. I'm not done. Please, let me finish."

He took a step before turning his face down to see her. His throat burning from the emotion he was feeling.

"After that day, I couldn't help but keep thinking of you, and what you said." Paige took a deep breath. "I love you, Walter."

He thought he was dreaming.

"You love me?" His voice broke.

"Yes. I do really love you." Paige replied, standing up, biting her quivering upper lip.

He instinctively leaned over closer to her, closing the gap by placing his lips on hers. She responded by bringing her arms to rest on his shoulders, interlocking her fingers behind his neck. His hand then steadied her at the waist, pulling her even closer to him.

They separated, resting their foreheads against each other, unable to contain their stupid grins.

"I love you too." Walter whispered as he placed a soft kiss on her nose. She giggled. They stood that way for a while, savouring the moment until...

"Well, look what we have here!" A voice called to them from behind, making them both jump apart. They turned their heads towards the sound, only to see...

"MOM!" "Veronica - what-"

"Relax, lovebirds. I was just curious of how things turned out." Veronica explained, grinning to herself. They got together.

"Mom, get out. Go away." Paige said angrily as she turned her head to the opposite direction, crossing her arms around her chest.

"Veronica," Walter said sternly as he gestured her to back off.

"Okay okay. I'll leave." She replied, raising her hands up in defence. "Just a word with my daughter, please."

Walter looked at Paige.

"It's fine, Walter. I'll meet you in the car."

Walter gave her a quick kiss on her lips before heading back to his car.

 **-SCORPION-**

"What you want now, Mom?" Paige said, growing impatient. She glanced at her watch. "We need to go to work."

"Alright, I'll make this quick." Veronica replied, before continuing. "I see that you got what you wanted."

"If you're coming here to tell me that you succeeded, you're wasting my time." Paige said as she began to walk to Walter's car.

"No. I'm just...you and Walter are perfect for each other, and I want you to know that."

Paige stopped and smiled to herself. She couldn't agree more, but she refuse to admit that in front of her mother. So, she stayed silent.

"And Tim called."

Why would he call her?

Veronica continued, "He said that he won't be back for another eighteen months. And he sends his best wishes to you and Walter."

"You told him we were together?" Paige asked, taken aback by what she said although relieved that Tim would be gone for a long time.

"Nope. I guess he made that conclusion himself. It was pretty obvious to everyone what would happen if he left." Veronica answered. She paused before saying, "I'll leave now. I won't be back for a while."

Paige was internally relieved. But she didn't say a word.

As Veronica turned to leave, she added something really quietly. Paige almost didn't catch it. "I'm so glad you're happy now, Paige."

"Momma, wait!" Paige shouted as she ran up quickly to her.

Veronica missed that. Paige had not called her like that in years, not since she left her father.

Paige gave Veronica a quick hug. "Take care."

"You too."

With that, she disappeared as quickly as she came.

 **-SCORPION-**

Ralph stirred awake to the sound of the garage door opening. He tossed himself over on the couch so that he was facing the back entrance. He rubbed his eyes and squinted.

Was he seeing what he was seeing?

Walter and his mother holding hands, fingers interlinked as they smiled and giggled as they entered with breakfast from Kovelsky's. Walter then leaned over and kissed his mom on the lips, placing the food items on the kitchen counter and using that now free hand to tuck her hairs behind her ear and cup her cheek. Their fingers completely intertwined throughout.

He couldn't help but smile.

Finally.

They could be partners, forever.

 **-THE END-**

* * *

 **A/N:** WOOT! Congratulations if you have stuck with me through my first ever multi-chaptered fic! Thank you so so much for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, it will definitely make my day.


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